Data Engineer

The Home Office works to build a safe, fair and prosperous UK. We achieve this through our work on counter-terrorism, policing, crime, drugs policy, immigration and passports.

Home Office Digital designs, builds and develops services for the rest of the department and for government. Every year our systems support up to 3 million visa applications, checks on 100 million border crossings, up to 8 million passport applications and deliver 140 million police checks on people, vehicles and property.

As a Data Engineer, you will identify, build, modify, manage and deliver new data pipelines and develop new data services to query, enrich and match datasets making use of existing data services. You will collaborate with the Business Analyst, Data Acquisition, Analytics and Infrastructure teams to deliver the data strategy through the design and implementation of technology systems.

By joining Data Services and Analytics (DSA) now, you can help drive forward our aim to become recognised as the leading provider of data insight services in Government.

Within Home Office Digital, the DSA team find innovative uses for Home Office data and contains one of the most advanced data analytics centres in Government. We strive to lead the way in appropriate and proportionate use of data and analytics to deliver joined-up, intelligent services that unlock the value from data and improve decision making, policy and operations.

What this means is a daily opportunity to work with teams across the Home Office’s areas of responsibility, from borders, visas and passports, to policing and national security, with some of the largest and most varied datasets and in support of critical national initiatives.

DSA consist of technical and non-technical professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds; we are the hub of data expertise within the department. We support our teams with structured learning, both formal and on-the-job, mentoring and feedback.

You will support Senior Data Engineers in analysing problems and data analysis issues, looking for underlying causes and assisting in developing solutions. You will also be responsible for delivering data solutions in accordance with agreed organisational standards that ensure services are resilient, scalable and future proof.

You will work closely with the Data Services Science community, who will set the scope of your data engineering work through their research of user and business needs and by their designing data pipelines through writing user stories.

• Collaborate with the Analytics team to develop new data models, enrichment processes, and data streaming systems.
• Design, build, and test data products using feeds from multiple systems and diverse storage technologies. Assist in designing, writing, iterating, and optimising code from prototype to production-ready solutions.
• Conduct data profiling and source system analysis, delivering clear insights to support data-driven decisions. Help develop methods to monitor and improve data quality in source systems, leveraging feedback from the Analytics team.
• Support the delivery of data loads for customers, Data Engineers, and Data Scientists, including troubleshooting and developing new data load programs.
• Provide operational support for live services, working with incident management and other teams to resolve issues promptly.

• Address changes and bug fixes for complex data products in response to business and product manager requirements.
• Implement changes to existing routines following change control procedures and communicate delivery and impact to relevant teams.
• Engage with the Data Engineering community to foster collaboration, promote agile practices, and mentor new and associate Data Engineers.

Due to the business requirements of this role, it is only available on a full-time basis. However, compressed hours are available.

Occasional travel may be required to other Home Office locations. Any associated costs will be reimbursed in line with Home Office policy.